Here is the thing, the "we told you what to do" is the perfect endless out for anything. They have no basis for the fine amount, it is a totally ad hoc action. The lack of formal announcement compounds how capricious they are acting. Basically they are stating that the LCS rules now cover "whatever we say".

This is the dumbest ruling yet. I understand that they have a hard line on account sharing, but this misses the spirit of the rules. The rule is designed to prevent elo boosting, not act as a barrier to LCS competition. The OGN ban just throws in spite for no reason. If they are so serious, disqualify them from LCS. If they aren't then just let it go. This penalty makes no one happy, proves nothing, enforces nothing, deters no behavior, and just makes the e-sports division look like clowns.

Hardly. The rule he cites is "do what we say" with no linkage to fines or penalties. Lawyer'd would suggest governance at work, this is ad hoc personal hits by a powerful company telling Reginald to fuck off.

This is not the same case at all. Boss saying "don't skip on Friday" is a bad example as you are highlighting a case where the rule "don't skip work" is actually already known. A better example would be:

Boss: "Here are some candies, but don't eat any green ones."

Employee: <Eats all candy>

Boss: "Your fired"

Employee: "You can't be serious? I assumed you were kidding with such an arbitrary and unimportant rule!"

Boss: "Well the employee handbook says always do what you are told."

This example is closer to the truth. The fine was leveled for a non-rule on shaky reasoning and no real impact. Reginald didn't take them seriously because it shouldn't have been an issue. Riot was showing that they expect absolute authority. They told Reginald they weren't going to release this press release because clearly they knew they were being arbitrary and simply trying to send a message to the owners. Riot isn't trying to govern or make anyone accountable, they just want to show muscle.

CW have decided that protecting YB and Unlimited is more important than keeping their LCS spot.

Everyone is speculating that it was Brokenshard who made the bad baron call, but we don't know that for sure or not. LCS teams are not just one shotcaller and 4 robots. To put all the blame on Brokenshard for recent weeks seems to forget that they have the worst players in the EU LCS at almost every position. Upgrading to SorenXD gave them a single winning lane and Brokenshard had some great games and some poor ones. Instead they are swapping to Airwaks who the team stated has 0 shotcalling ability. The result is it ensures YB has to stay on the team to be main shotcaller, despite losing his lane in almost every single game they have played all year.

Honestly, I doubt CW will make it through relegations and I would even be surprised that they make it in as part of the expansion of the LCS to 10 teams. This team has made too many poor team and individual decisions. Letting go of Brokenshard suggests that they have no idea what they need to do, just that it can't involve making a real assessment of player skill.

I think the problem is that when a game gets big it becomes easier to notice the problems than appreciate the positive. I would be angry about lag if they weren't building a new center for EUW. I would be angry about LCS contracts, but they changed their position. I would be mad if Rioters were speaking publicly in a way that angered the community, but they aren't.

The point is, I am a satisfied customer. I actually believe they are trying hard to provide a great user experience and overall my time playing has been great.

Why is thinkpiece publishing anonymous open letters? I am all for people sharing their opinions, but isn't simply making a reddit thread the same thing? Instead a media outlet is publishing anonymous op-ed denouncing a kickstarter. Is this really what thinkpiece is about?

Not that I count for much, but I see this and forgive Reginald. The only people who do count are his team mates and time will tell if things really do change. I know a lot of people on reddit may react harshless to Reginald because they already thought he was a jerk or because they find bullying reprehensible generally. However, the test of all people is their ability to grow and change. I hope this ugly fight turns into a moment of positive change for the team not the beginning of unravelling. Whatever happens next week at PAX, I hope they can stay together as a team and grow stronger.